"magician, enchanter," c. 1400, Englished form of Latin magus "magician, learned magician," from Greek magos, a word used for the Persian learned and priestly class as portrayed in the Bible (said by ancient historians to have been originally the name of a Median tribe), from Old Persian magush "magician" (see magic and compare magi). An "archaic" word by late 19c. (OED), revived by fantasy games.

c. 1200, "skilled magicians, astrologers," from Latin magi, plural of magus "magician, learned magician," from Greek magos, a word used for the Persian learned and priestly class as portrayed in the Bible (said by ancient historians to have been originally the name of a Median tribe), from Old Persian magush "magician" (see magic). Also, in Christian history, the "wise men" who, according to Matthew, came from the east to Jerusalem to do homage to the newborn Christ (late 14c.). Related: Magian.

also counter-attack, "attack made in response to an enemy's attack," by 1850; as two words from 1817, from counter- + attack (n.). The verb is recorded from 1867. Related: Counter-attacked; counter-attacking.

1931, from the theories, experiments, and methods of Russian physiologist Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849-1936), especially in connection with the conditioned salivary reflexes of dogs in response to the mental stimulus of the sound of a bell (attested from 1911, in Pavloff [sic] method).